Roger Sunderland

If you Google it I think there are still suppliers online.

With summer holidays and model shows , to name just two distractions, things have been a bit quiet during June and July. However I can update to say that the first two boards, which will carry most of the station area are nearly complete and track laying should start this month. We have completely stripped and refurbished the old “Horfield” fiddle yard to reuse with this layout. For those that recall Horfield on the exhibition circuit, it’s massive, with seven boards, 35’ long that used to contain 16 tracks. The plan for Central fiddle yard has been finalised. I will try to post on here soon. Finally, Simon has completed the CAD work for the complete North side of the station, as shown below, and this is now ready to be laser cut.

Ahh. Forming the tumbleholme in brass sides- surely one of the dark arts of model making! If you don’t have access to bending bars, which very few have, there are , as Ian says, a few different methods. Personally I’ve had very good results, for years, with a length of skirting board. The curved rebate being exactly right for bending the tumbleholme on LMS coaches with a steel bar. Unfortunately I can’t give details as there must be thousands of different types of skirting boards, maybe it’s just a question of luck.

Should have mentioned- you’ll need a Zimo (even the MX600 at £25 will work) or an ESU decoder - poorer quality decoders don’t have an uncoupling function built in. Personal experience says it’s easier to fit and set up with a Zimo decoder.

Hi To avoid any confusion , the remote uncoupler used on the Bournemouth West exhibition layout , and by me on all my home layouts is made by Preci models, a Swiss company. It is excellent, easy to install and works with Kadee couplings, allowing remote uncoupling anywhere on a layout by a simple press of one function button. Video of the coupling in action is available on YouTube under the Bournemouth West / BRM video or on the digital version of July BRM for my home Stanicliffe layout. Googling Preci models will also show you the coupling in action on their website. Full English fitting instructions are also provided by Preci models. Usual disclaimers, just a very happy customer.

Thanks very much Nick. I will try and get a copy.

Hello all please can anyone help by either providing me with information or pointing me in the right direction. I am hoping to build a model of Bradford Exchange and its immediate approaches. Although I have amassed a fair amount of info and photos I would dearly like to have a copy of the weekday timetable of arrivals/ departures for 1960 (summer or winter). Would be most grateful if anyone can help.

That’s lovely Tony. Are you going to review Accurascale’s new Siphon G? IMHO simply the best rtr coach/van ever made!!

Hi Tony The signals look really wonderful but I do wonder why Viessman motors were used to operate them. For years now most modellers have employed servos to operate signals . They are cheap and effective. To see what can be achieved I recommend the thread on 4mm signals, on here, by Steve Hewitt who I consider to be the absolute master when it comes to building 4mm signals.Combined with the correct control gear these signals, like we showed on our Bournemouth West layout can include prototypical slow draw off and bounce on return, which, I’m not sure those with Viessman motors can do. Far more realistic, in my view, than a quick up and slam down.

My 2 arrived courtesy of DHL this morning. Speechless! Truly stunning models!

Hi Paul yes the walls will be 2 layers of ply with a core of acrylic for the glazing, laser cut. Still not sure about the roof, may be removable to allow people to see in.

A group of us had a brilliant day out yesterday visiting the other Bournemouth Central layout in Somerset. (They have a thread on here as well) We shared information and ideas and came back with some very useful material. What a superb creation their layout is, working to an actual timetable from 1962 and encompassing the area from the viaducts at Branksome to the goods yards East of the station, it’s huge. The scenic work, particularly trees, and the buildings were very, very impressive. It’s given us plenty of food for thought regarding how we might operate our layout. Big thank you to Ray and his crew for their hospitality and help.

Thanks very much for your reply Jonathan. I was fairly sure it was a 536 build but I certainly didn’t know it was the first. London Road appear to offer 2 types of Ivatt tender - horseshoe and self trimming, I assume this is the self trimming type? (Have corrected my original post - thanks for noticing it)

Tony Please May I use your thread, once again, to seek out some help from the very knowledgeable contributors to this thread, your good self included. I am about to purchase a London Road models J6. The loco I’m building is 64226 which lasted until 1962, based in West Yorkshire. Can someone please confirm that this is one of the later Gresley locos with smaller cab and sanding box on the footplate? In addition does anyone know what type of tender it ran with in it’s final days please. I have found photos of this particular loco very hard to come by and not having access to any relevant LNER tomes I would appreciate some guidance.

There have been plenty of ‘pub’ meetings of late but precious little actual doing. Not entirely true as our ‘research department ‘ has been very busy amassing pictures, videos and facts to ensure we get as much right as we can. Yesterday though we met up to decide what size the baseboards would be and where we would have to cut the plan. Not an easy task as those pesky things called points keep getting in the way! We had had a previous look at the overall plan a few weeks back to get an idea of what we would include.(the layout in the background is Bournemouth West set up prior to its outing to Wimborne show next month). But we now had the opportunity to place some of those points we’ve been building on the track plan. Overall we’ve ended up with 5 boards for the scenic section and only 1 point has had to be moved from its true position , by a couple of inches, to accommodate a baseboard join, so not bad. The first 2 boards should be cut over the next couple of weeks.

Does anyone have any tips for getting the flush glazing strips out of these coach sides. On the one I’m working on it’s glued solid. Any attempt to prise it off risks damaging the coach side. Was hoping to re spray it and 2 others. Is there anything that might dissolve or weaken the glue?

Wow. Pardon me for starting this discussion. I only wanted to know if there was a difference in length of the boilers!

Hi there Can anybody please tell me what the differences in boilers and fireboxes were for the above 2 locos. I’m thinking particularly of the length of the boilers and fireboxes. Many thanks.

So continuing with the track work theme. This beast has taken up a fair bit of my time over the last 2 weeks. Starting by laying the sleepers on the Templot plan. the outer V’s and start of the crossing have been laid. the straight stock rails are now tack soldered on. From this formation the rest of the track for this scissors crossover can be gauged off it. Resulting in this……

Steady with the “Roger” bit please Andy…….

Just an update. The track plan has been produced on Templot by Simon. It’s 27 feet long. The printout is printed at 4mm to the foot scale and this enables me to start building some points, off-site. some of the points/formations will have to be built on copper clad sleepers, like these. All the points on Bournemouth West were built this way which enables you to produce an exact replica of the real life point rather than relying on squeezing in a point from a commercial track range which wouldn’t fit the plan. However, there are quite a few turnouts that are a match for the Peco bullhead large radius ones, particularly in the shed yard and we will use these where appropriate. But- we are particularly impressed by the British Finescale range of point kits. They are easy to build and look the part. The B7 range they currently produce also fits many of the locations on the plan, including the single and double slips ( breathes sigh of relief). We will also be using these where appropriate.

Well said it’s only a scone (cone) in the South. They have a funny way of talking. For instance they pronounce Bath with an r in it - Barth, same with parth!

Hi all Just thought I’d share a few pics with you This is the start of the track planning process, the track plan from the OS map has been put into Templot and the pointwork has started to be worked on. And this is what we are aiming to achieve!!!

This is a better example of what I mean about the cost. This is a fully modelled girder span to prove width and scale. Including the waisted supports cost is £1.16

Take your point David but Simon, our 3D print guy, does this for a living so it makes sense to utilise both his skills and access to the hardware. To be honest the material cost are very small, the main cost is in time spent drawing things up - however, once drawn any number of items can be produced for just a few pence. In fact it’s probably cheaper than casting them. Also , there is a lot of detail to be seen on the outside of the model and a view through the roof will be possible.